C7

MARY-ELLEN SAUNDERS
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

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ST. STEPHEN - The sentencing of a St. Stephen woman guilty of fraud for collecting $23,000 in social assistance while she was working was delayed so the judge could have more time to decide a sentence.

Stacie Marie McGraw, 36, of Blacks Harbour, pleaded guilty to defrauding the Department of Social Development for $23,000 between August 2004 and April 2007. The sentencing is now scheduled for Oct. 14.

The court heard McGraw took a job in St. George and did not tell the department about the income she was making and continued to collect the full income assistance benefits for almost three years.

"In essence she stole over $23,000 from the people of New Brunswick," said Crown prosecutor Randy DiPaolo.

DiPaolo said McGraw made several dishonest statements to commit this fraud over the 32-month period.

He said the court needs to come up with a sentence that will deter her and that will deter others from committing the same crime.

DiPaolo suggested the court incarcerate McGraw.

DiPaolo said the court could consider allowing McGraw to serve her sentence in her home, but some form of jail was necessary to punish her.

"It needs to be a daily reminder to her that she defrauded the public," said DiPaolo.

Duty counsel Joel Hansen said McGraw, who is a single mother who receives no help from the father of her children, was using the extra money to pay for a babysitter.

Hansen said if McGraw had made the department aware that she was working she would have lost her assistance cheque but would have qualified for funds to pay a portion of her child-care fees.

Hansen said McGraw knew that under the department's regulations, she would have had to hire a babysitter that was 18 or over to qualify for the funding and could not find an older babysitter who she trusted.

Hansen said McGraw did not want to sit around on assistance and wanted to work but could not afford to do it alone and did not have a babysitter who would have been approved by the department so she decided to use the money she was receiving to pay her child-care bill.

"Single mothers do what they can to provide for their children," said Hansen. "She had talked it over with the department, she knew the rules and she did not disclose that she was working."

Hansen said McGraw owns her own home and any order requesting her to pay back the funds owed could be held against her house that would force her to pay if she ever wants to sell her home or get a mortgage.

"She wants to make restitution," said Hansen. "She feels an obligation to pay the treasury back."

Hansen said he did not think incarceration was necessary and said McGraw is not a drug addict, a gambler or a woman who was using the money to live "high on the hog." She is a woman who was using the money to provide for her family. Requests from Judge David Walker for the amount she would have received for babysitting resulted in a figure of $300 a month or just under $10,000, which would still leave $13,000 owing.

Walker said he needed more time to decide what the sentence would be and look at similar cases in the past.